Two workers, among the 17 who suffered severe burns on Tuesday after molten iron fell on them while they were working at a factory in Bankura's Borjora, succumbed to their injuries at a private Durgapur hospital on Wednesday morning.

Hospital authorities said that the deceased workers, Ramesh Kumar and Mohammed Azim, were both in their mid-30s and were originally residents of Muzaffarpur and Samastipur in Bihar.

Both had suffered almost 80 per cent burns.

Of the 17 workers who were injured at the private sponge iron factory in Borjora on Tuesday, eight, including Ramesh and Azim, were deemed critical.

After the deaths of Ramesh and Azim, their six critically injured colleagues are battling for their lives at the Vivekananda Hospital in Durgapur.

"The condition of the two (Ramesh and Azim) had been very critical from the start and they unfortunately could not survive. The condition of six more (among the workers admitted to the hospital) is also very critical. They have also sustained over 80 per cent burns. We are providing medical care to the best of our ability," said Durga Das Roy, the chief medical officer of the hospital.

Sources said that hot molten iron spilled out of a ladle following an explosion in the boiler of the sponge iron factory and fell on 17 workers on Tuesday.

All the 17 injured were initially rushed to the Borjora superspeciality hospital.

From there, 14 of them were shifted to the Vivekananda Hospital in Durgapur after their condition deteriorated.

On Tuesday, some workers at the factory alleged the lack of safety measures even when they did risky jobs. "We do not get proper safety gloves and shoes on duty," a worker had alleged.